


Theater Love

by vsky949



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love at First Sight, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-03
Updated: 2013-03-03
Packaged: 2017-12-04 03:26:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/705982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vsky949/pseuds/vsky949
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One where Zayn Malik is the strictest, most prestigious Broadway critic and Liam is the new performer giving him a run for that title</p>
            </blockquote>





	Theater Love

Slowly, almost dreadfully, Zayn made his way over to the special seat reserved for him. The seat sat right in front of the stage, so he could see the whole show the way it was supposed to be seen and give the company the best review possible.

He didn’t even know why he was here. He had seen the show three times, and every time, the strict play reviewer that he was, gave them a review they didn’t really like to read. It wasn’t necessarily bad; just not something Zayn really wanted to see once, let alone three times.

Each time they called him over, saying they fixed whatever the problem was. In Zayn’s opinion, it wasn’t much better. Every new review he gave them, he tried to be nicer and encouraging but he ended up saying he appreciated the effort but still wasn’t satisfied for his taste. Although he could see the hurt in the director and performer’s eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was Zayn Malik after all, the strictest and most powerful reviewer known in the Broadway show business.

And that’s why he found himself here, ready to see the play again. The play would not be performed in front of an audience until it got at least a 4 star review and so far Zayn had only rewarded them with a 2 star and two 3’s.

Zayn sighed as he caught a glimpse of the performers starting to get in their places, knowing it was as little as five minutes from beginning. He opened up his laptop and type in:

YC Review; #4

Here we go again…

—

Zayn never believe in love at first sight. He never thought he’d know when someone was meant for him. Sure, whenever he saw a hot guy he would think about what it would be like to be with them, but that didn’t mean he would start developing feelings for them; at least not until getting to know them. That was the way Zayn saw it and he never planned to change it.

However, with the first glance of the new brown headed wonder on stage, all he thought was out the window.

Zayn was infatuated. He never saw the man before, but he couldn’t get his eyes off of him. The boy didn’t seem far from his age; probably around late teens or early twenties. His hair swayed around his head when he danced, making it wavier than it was to begin with. He seemed a bit taller than Zayn and his skin was a nice cream color; not too pale and not too dark.

Zayn thought he was absolutely perfect at first glimpse. But then he opened his mouth and his voice traveled through the whole room, making Zayn’s arm fill with goose bumps. He had a deep voice when he talked and sang but he had the ability to hold the high notes in a sweeter tone that Zayn had thought he would have the power to.

Zayn found himself not able to get his gaze off of him at all, even though he wasn’t talking or dancing or even singing. And when the boy would look over and catch Zayn’s gaze, he found himself embarrassed over the blush he could feel on his cheeks. Thankfully, his darker skin made it harder to notice. But he noticed his attention was probably noticeable when he caught himself perched on the edge of the seat whenever the boy came on. He tried his best to sit back and relax but his heart would beat too fast to even watch clearly.

That’s how he spent his whole time there; heart and mind pounding.

He didn’t know what to think. He didn’t like things getting between his work. He prided himself on being respected and didn’t want that to change over some guy. But then he would come out again and Zayn couldn’t bring himself to care anymore.

After the show ended, Zayn stood up and clapped for them; it was the least he could do. They smiled and went backstage to catch their breath and let Zayn finish up with his thoughts. Zayn was entirely grateful because he realized then that he hadn’t written anything while watching the play. He quickly shook his head and thought back at the performance. Taking aside the new guy, it was ultimately better, Zayn could admit. They had fixed the acting issues and obviously rehearsed their songs now as well. That and the new addition made Zayn’s fingers work against the keyboard and write down his review.

—

“Congratulations,” Zayn smiled as he handed his review to Fred, the play director. Fred took the paper from Zayn with hopeful eyes and read it. His face broke out with a proud smile at the 4 1/2 star review in his hands.

“Oh my gosh, thank you so much Mr. Malik!” Fred exclaimed. “You don’t know how hard we have worked for this. Thank you so much for rewarding us like this!”

Zayn smiled. “Don’t mention it. I know you’ve worked hard; it’s very obvious and I am sorry it has taken this long but believe me, this is a definite improvement than your past performances. The acting is spotless, the singing is on key, the dancing is on beat, and the new guy brought you guys to the extra step you needed.”

Fred looked at him and broke out into another smile, this one forming more of a smirk. Zayn hadn’t meant to let that last part slip out but then he had started speaking and hoped he finished it in the most advice-giving kind of way. Either he was being a little more obvious or Fred was just being his angel at the moment because before he could blink Fred was calling someone behind him.

“Liam!”

The one and only brown headed stranger turned around. Liam. That name fit him so well. Liam had turned around from his conversation with one of his fellow cast mates and turned to Fred. Fred motioned with his finger for him to come forward. Liam turned and caught Zayn’s eyes staring at him. Zayn bowed his head, embarrassed, and Liam smiled. He dropped his bag by one of the makeup counters and came to stand next to Fred.

“You called Fred?” Liam asked, his eyes still not leaving Zayn.

Fred clapped him on the back. “Liam, I want you to meet Zayn Malik, the most prestigious reviewer of the Broadway business. Mr. Malik, this is our new addition, Liam Payne.”

Zayn looked up and smiled at Liam. Liam’s smile brightened as he made eye contact with him. He outstretched his hand and Zayn reached over to shake it. Liam gave it a small squeeze before dropping it, causing Zayn to break eye contact. He could hear a small laugh escape from Liam’s lips.

“We’ve been trying to get a good review out of Mr. Malik here for a while now and we finally received it.” Fred informed Liam. With a smirk, he added, “and he says you’re part of the reason why.”

Zayn was sure the room was on fire. He wished he could melt or run away because Liam was looking at him with an amused look and smirk on his face.

“Is that right?” Liam asked.

Zayn shrugged before clearing his throat. “Uh yeah, i suppose. You’re a-a great addition to the play.” Zayn defended. He quickly apologized and gave his goodbyes before practically flying away. He didn’t think he would be able to stand another awkward moment with Liam before dying of embarrassment or kissing the daylights out of him.

Zayn preferred not to take his chances with either.

—

Although he had an outstanding career as a reviewer, Zayn had always had his heart set out on being a musician. Since a young boy Zayn was enchanted by music and all he wished was that one day it would be him doing that. And he didn’t have bad luck with it so far. Yes, he wasn’t signed to any record label yet, but he was in the process. He had sold many of his songs to famous singers and gotten his name out in the music industry by it. He also featured in songs with his famous friends, some of the songs reaching the top of the billboards.

Now, Zayn was just waiting for his chance.

A bar in the corner of Zayn’s street was one of them. They held open mic nights every Wednesday and Zayn found himself to be a common performer in them. He was so used to being here he was friends with the workers and knew a lot of the customers. Plus, having it being a gay bar gave Zayn lots of times to chat up with good looking blokes.

Zayn was sitting at his usual chair in front of the microphone. He quickly said hi and introduced himself, mostly unnecessary because if he was being quite honest, most of the people were here to see him. He started of singing and soon lost all his senses; something very common when music hit Zayn’s body. It was like nothing else was important anymore, just him being in that set of mind where everything was music and feelings and emotions.

It was on his second song when he heard a ding coming from the front door, informing them someone had just walked in. However it did not register so he did not get to see the familiar brown eyes wonder looking up at him, like he was a sight to see.

Zayn finished and the bar erupted in applause, everyone in captivated by Zayn’s voice and persona. He thanked everyone and made his way back down to the bar. He picked up his beer and sipped it. He was about to call for Josh, the bartender, when he felt a hand pat him on the shoulder. He turned to the side and his eyes widened when he saw Liam there, smiling up at him.

“Hey Zayn. Fancy seeing you here, huh?” Liam smirked.

“Umm yeah i suppose. What are you doing here?” Liam shrugged so Zayn rephrased his question. “What are you doing at this bar?”

“Well I’m kind of new here so i decided to go out and walk around. I live like 2 blocks from here. I saw the bar and decided it might be a good idea to come in. And, Fred also said I should check it out. Said I’d be comfortable here where I could meet people like me.”

Zayn furrowed his eyebrows. Like him? What did that mean? Liam noticed his confused expression and rolled his eyes. He pointed to the sign in the front of the bar.

Country Gay Bar

Zayn’s eyes widened when realization set. He turned back to Liam and asked, maybe sounding a bit too hopeful, “You’re gay?”

“Yes sir. You?” Zayn nodded. Liam winked, “Good to know.”

Zayn blushed and looked away. He felt fingers under his chin and was forced to meet Liam’s eyes full of amusement. “You’re cute when you get embarrassed.”

Zayn slapped Liam’s hand away playfully, making Liam laugh. He dropped his hand but rested it on Zayn’s right leg. Zayn tried hard not to focus on the warmth or the caressing his thumb was doing on his inner thigh.

“So like I said, I’m new here. Know any good restaurants to eat at?” Liam asked.

Zayn had never been very good at knowing when flirting was happening or not, but with the way Liam kept inching closer and how his hand kept going higher and higher on his leg, he was more than certain on what he had to do. “Yeah I know a couple. I’d be happy to take you to one.”

Liam squeezed Zayn’s leg, obviously happy he had gotten the message. “That sounds lovely.”

Zayn smiled and laid his hand on top of Liam’s on his leg, loving the way the two contrasts of their color skin looked together. “How about tomorrow after the show?”

Liam cocked an eyebrow, “You’re going to go?”

“You’re going to be in it right?”

Liam giggled, “Yeah I guess.”

Zayn smiled and intertwined his fingers between Liam’s. “Then I wouldn’t miss it.”


End file.
